Temple and University of Washington

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey all, I am seriously considering Temple and U of Washington (yes totally different schools I know thanks) and would like to know everything I can about them, including but not limited to</p>

<p>-The quality of the study abroad program</p>

<p>-The school spirit</p>

<p>-The proximity to quality transportation</p>

<p>-Wether there are good off campus housing options</p>

<p>-If there is any physical activities available nearby</p>

<p>-Quality of the gym</p>

<p>-Diversity</p>

<p>-Wether it is a ommuter campus or otherwise</p>

<p>-Surrounding nightlife/city</p>

2

<p>bump.</p>

<p>(I need help people!)</p>

3

<p>Well…not only different schools but totally different cities. So different its hard to put into a short paragraph here. Tell us more about yourself and maybe we can be of better assistance. </p>

<p>Both are public institutions. UW is huge. But its also an awesome campus, with some stellar programs, in a gorgeous (if cloudy and rainy) city. Its quintessentially a west coast city and campus, whereas Temple is quintessentially an east coast…and specifically a Philly campus. </p>

<p>UW kids live on campus, off campus in plentiful apartments or rent houses in the Univ. district or other parts of the city, with one of the best mass transit bus systems in the country (clean and safe and widely used by everyone, including professionals). Some kids do live at home to save money, but that is a minority. There are frats and sororities galore. Clubs sports and everything. Its one of the dominant schools in the Northwest. Lots of kids of all types there, but a good number of them are outdoors types: skiing, hiking, biking, environmental issues. </p>

<p>Where are U from?</p>

4

<p>Thanks so much ghostbuster! And I’ve read all I can find about them on various college websites (and so I know where they are, what they cost, et.c), but I was looking for people with more real- life experience. Both have the classes I’m looking for.</p>

<p>I live in NJ myself, and I really want to live in a city. Does U of Washington have a ‘closed campus’? Or is it kind of spread within the city?</p>

5

<p>For Temple:</p>

<p>-The quality of the study abroad program: Pretty good. We have two international campuses, in Tokyo and Rome. Plenty of other options. Can do study abroad through other schools and transfer credits no problem (I went to Australia this past summer)</p>

<p>-The school spirit: Pretty good and improving every year. Not quite as good as UDub, since they’re in a major conference, but there are definitely a good amount of us who are passionate about our Owls.</p>

<p>-The proximity to quality transportation: Right on campus.</p>

<p>-Wether there are good off campus housing options: Not really great in terms of houses. There are a few apartment complexes that are nice, though.</p>

<p>-If there is any physical activities available nearby: Like gyms? Yeah, we have a nice gym.</p>

<p>-Quality of the gym: See above</p>

<p>-Diversity: Very few schools are as diverse as Temple.</p>

<p>-Wether it is a ommuter campus or otherwise: We’ve been a residential school for around 5 years.</p>

<p>-Surrounding nightlife/city: It’s Philadelphia. Anything you could want.</p>

6

<p>Most of the UW campus is on one large site that is quite beautiful. A few buildings are scattered outside the main campus.</p>

7

<p>Agree with Barron’s. UW is a pretty campus, as large state colleges go. But its not a small campus, nor “enclosed” like Vanderbilt, for example,or even UVa. Its a very good school. Some departments are better than others as you might expect. For oceanography its superb. They have an outstanding Law School, Medical School and Dental School. Great sports with a LOT of spirit. MOST KIDS come from the State of Washington, some from Oregon, Idaho and California, and a smattering from around the country. A decent amount of foreign students. The “U District” is famous for its coffeeshops and granola crunchers. Its just north of downtown by 5 miles, but excellent bus service is not a problem. </p>

<p>Being out of state, you should look at comparison schools in the area: Seattle University, University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle Pacific University, Washington State University, Whitman, Gonzaga, Western Wash. Univ., University of Portland, University of Oregon, Oregon State, Willamette, Lewis and Clark College. </p>

<p>People in the Northwest are fairly laid back, though they can be just as intense in their studies…so dont misunderstand their demeanor. Its NOT the East Coast. That may attract you or be a problem, depending on your personality and what interests you. </p>

<p>Kids at UW are big on boating, skiing, hiking, biking, driving subarus…just kidding…had to throw that in! LOL. Big classes are a problem I have heard for freshmen…like Chemistry or Physics or Psychology or English…usual first level courses taught by TA’s. </p>

<p>If you want small, cozy, intimate, everyone knows your name, small classes, etc…UW is likely not your choice. (Same for any large state university). But you can make excellent friends there, cut out your niche and do very well. Balancing your time at UW will be between classes, homework and stuff to do OFF CAMPUS…shopping in Seattle is an experience to behold! A real wonderment! Its a world class city, truly beautiful. Seattle is also a very cosmopolitan business center with some heavy hitters. They dont care about LA or New York and Chicago and don’t have to. </p>

<p>I’m a big fan of Jesuit colleges, and Seattle University is an outstanding Jesuit college in the inner city of Seattle. Small campus, pretty gardens, new upgrade to Division 1-A sports (no football, but everything else). Excellent programs and some really good faculty who TEACH first and foremost…consistently rated extremely high on USNWR for teaching quality of professors. Just a thought. </p>

<p>Seattle is a very open and tolerant city with an overall liberal bent to it. Its very live and let live, and often avant garde in music, foreign films and even fashion design. Its one of my favorite cities, but just to visit. LOL.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

8

<p>One more thing. Its surrounded by water. Both the University and the city. Seattle is almost an island with the Puget Sound, Lake Union and Lake Washington on three sides. UW has boundaries on Lake Union, Lake Washington and the Ship Canal which connects the lakes to the salt water of Puget Sound. The football stadium (60,000 seat Husky Stadium which they fill!) is on the shores of Lake Washington.</p>

9

<p>Housing at UW is a challenge. I believe only 22 percent live on campus. Three people can end up in a room made for two. There is good bus service in the area–leave your car at home since you’ll just be sitting in traffic if you try to drive in the U district. You can walk five minutes to the water and rent canoes and kayaks for some physical activity. Numerous panhandlers, every ethnic cuisine imaginable, music, theater, art … definitely a vibrant urban experience. Lastly, the UW took a big hit when the state cut their part of the budget by 26 percent. That doesn’t bode well for class size, admissions, or the atmosphere on campus.</p>

10

<p>Whoa! A 26 percent cut? OUCH! I dont know how much UW can cut from excess and overlap and inefficiency without hurting programs. But they arent alone. Ditto in California and many state school systems: Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, UNC system. </p>

<p>Private colleges also have some challenges too.</p>

11

<p>Oh my gosh! Thanks to everyone for their help- I certainly couldn’t have hoped for this many responses!</p>

<p>I’m liking how the campus sounds for U of Washington, and the water all around sounds awesome! I love that there seem to be many physical activities to do. Does it ever get warm enough to swim? And is the weather there like East Coast weather (a ‘taste’ of every season’s extremes)? </p>

<p>And me being a vegetarian/vegan, I’m guessing I’ll fit in with the ‘granola crunchers’ haha =P.</p>

<p>And thanks also for the Temple info: I think I might be trying to shove the proverbial square peg into a round hole there, unfortunately. Because I’d really like to go someplace where I can get in physical activity in someplace that isn’t a gym, but… I love my Phillies (=D) and I like Philly.</p>

<p>How’s the job/internship field for both Universities? </p>

<p>And this might seem random, but is soccer widely played? (A lot of my income is from refereeing)</p>

<p>BTW I’m going for International studies, and taking Hindi, Chinese, French, and spanish, which is why I want a quality study abroad program.</p>

<p>Again, thanks for all the help you’ve already give, and in advance thatnks for any further help you could provide!</p>

12

<p>The lake gets warm enough to swim in – but it’s more the hardcore swimmers or little kids on a hot, hot day. Tons of vegetarian/vegan options around the UW – lots of ethnic choices, small/cheap veggie places, and nicer fine dining too. Soccer is huge here, probably the biggest soccer city in the U.S. Most kids start out playing soccer in elementary school. The new MLS franchise here sold out its season tickets in no time.</p>

13

<p>Washington’s was more like 14% from prior year. It might have been over 20% from what they WANTED but not from what they HAD.</p>

14

<p>The UW’s tuition increase was 14%. The state funding cut was 26%. See the brief here: </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.washington.edu/admin/pb/home/pdf/briefs/Peer-Comparison-Tuition-Increase-and-Budget-Cut-8-18-09_Final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.washington.edu/admin/pb/home/pdf/briefs/Peer-Comparison-Tuition-Increase-and-Budget-Cut-8-18-09_Final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There are comparisons to some other states, so other readers may find this document interesting.</p>

15

<p>You fell for it. 1) the “cuts” convenienetly leave out offsetting applicaton of Federal stimulus funds that were substituted for state funds. In many states that was a large number and backfilled the “cuts”. See footnote
2) they do not state what base they were using to define the “cuts”. Was it last year’s actuals? Usually not but rather what they asked for this year which was last year plus an often large increase. </p>

<p>Now they’ll say, well that Fed money might go away next year. True but all the states are hoping for better times and this was an easy plug for now. The fact is money is money and the state appropriated it to them just like any other state money.</p>

<p>Here are some real numners–UW got $792 Million in the prior budget for 2007-09. For 2009-11 they got a total of $646 Million. A real reduction of 18.5%. They also got double the normal max tuition increase estimated to bring an extra $90 million over the std 7% increase bringing total state $$$ and extra tuition $$$ to $736 Million for a net REAL cut of just 7% after all adjustments. Bad but not THAT bad. Other states do the same slight of hand.</p>

16

<p>Addendum–the UW figures do not include the “normal” 7% tuition increase which adds an additional $90 Million giving UW approx. $826 Million or an overall increase over the prior 2 years.</p>

17

<p>well, thanks for the soccer info- that’s awesome on two levels- I enjoy coaching younger kids as well as reffing =D</p>

<p>You guys have helped me so much, thanks!!!</p>

<p>And for the financial stuff I didn’t understand… =P</p>

<p>(I have about 15 more schools and I have to whittle it down to 10 so I’ll probably posting more random and different schools soon!)</p>

18

<p>D loved UW and had planned on going there OOS for two years, she was admitted in Dec, accepted in Feb and withdrew in May because of the financial troubles at UW and at that time, they could not tell us what the OOS tuition would be. With the no scholarships or financial aid other than loans (which was OK before we knew about the budget trouble), staff cuts (such as TAs), increased class size and admission to pre-major, it became too much of a gamble to graduate in 4 years. D decided to take an offer from UCLA in-state with a sizable scholarship offer and direct admit to her major. It made more sense even though it broke her heart not to go to her top choice but we left the choice up to her, 4-5 years at UW or grad school. Even with the budget problems in CA, it would still save a lot of money and we could pay for 2 years of grad school. She has had no problems enrolling in chem and math and they are still reasonable size classes, one is 250 and the other 400 with 17-30 person discussion sections for each. She is happy now so it was the right choice. For in-state and OOS people who have unlimited income, UW is a great school, both academically and location!</p>

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<p>er… not unlimited, but I have confidenceI’ll be able to repay the loans.</p>